Faster Heart Attack Care

(Jan. 31, 2007)--Hospitals nationwide are pledging to save more lives by providing quicker care for heart attack victims. They're following a plan developed by the American College of Cardiology based in part on research from Yale University, which found that when heart attack patients did not receive angioplasty--a procedure that opens blocked arteries--within 90 minutes of their arrival, their survival rate plummeted by 42%.

To beat the clock and give the best care, hospitals are encouraged to do the following, among other things: